1) With England’s final chance to make a dent in one of the top southern hemisphere side’s on Saturday, some liveners to set the scene. David Campese and co take the World Cup at Twickenham in 1991; Dan Luger’s try in 2000; that tackle by Josh Lewsey on Mat Rogers in 2003; Chris Ashton’s try in 2010; Nick “the Honey Badger” Cummins riposte for Aus in 2012 and of course then there’s 2003.
2) Terrifying. Danny Macaskill mountain bikes along the sheer top and edge of a, er, mountain.
3) Shinji Kagawa shows 55 Japanese school children who’s boss and a footballer making a real difference for children: short doc on Danny Ings’ self-funded disability project, providing coaching for children with disabilities in Burnley.
4) Martin Kaymer hits a trick shot and a half during practice for the 2012 Masters, watch to the end to see if it goes in, while these bowling trick-shots from the 1940s are just brilliant.
5) John Delaney, fun-loving chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland has been making headlines again, this time after being secretly filmed singing songs about the IRA in a Dublin pub. Earlier this year, the publicity-hungry sports administrator agreed to participate in John The Baptist, a ludicrous soft-soap documentary filmed in collaboration with Ireland’s Sunday Independent. Watch and weep.
In another desperate recent attempt to have his ego massaged, Delaney also featured on RTE’s The Saturday Night Show, where his new girlfriend described him as “a big teddy bear”.
For our money, however, this late-night kidnapping of the tired and emotional Delaney at Euro 2012 remains Shoeless John’s finest hour.
6) ”You’re outta your mind, cow turd!” Phyliss from Mulga, Alabama wins phone call of the week, while press conference of the week goes to this wonderfully surreal spot of theatre as Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin call the NFL on hypocrisy towards players.
Our favourites from last week’s blog
1) Backed into a corner? This thirteen-year-old Greek lad has the answer; as does this goalkeeper to pressure, while Jimmy Hill absorbs some pressure of his own when Sunderland fans remind him they still remember Coventry’s game with Bristol City starting ten minutes late in 1977. He takes it on the chin.
2) Golden Balls Beckham? Pah! Here’s an absolutely extraordinary take by Golden Hands Beckham – Odell Beckham Jr to be precise – one-handed, while being fouled, to score for the New York Giants against Dallas. Inevitably our Aussie cousins think that’s all a bit meh, they do it all the time apparently, here and here and again. And then there’s Sam Gordon, who became a star when she was nine-years-old for her American Football skills, had a year off to play soccer but is back running with the ball in her hands.
3) Throwing in cricket not a new problem apparently as this lovely piece of Pathé from 1960s shows.
4) Bad boy has ping pong rage.
5) Studio C’s rather pleasing, painful penalty mock-up, brilliantly done and the 1976 European Penalty Competition at Wembley.
6) Lovely spot this: the always thrilling F3 on the streets of Macau from 1995 and 2014 proving that almost a decade apart that three into one corner does not work, while, staying in China, the world’s tightest parallel parking.
Spotters’ badges: pexteballa, BlackCaeser, whobroughtoranges, RedThunder, chestnut52, RobBarwick, evilboy14, StuartRG, Vesuvial, CocoTheMonkey
